Department for Culture, Media and Sport

British Museum: Africa

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 20 September (HL9874), how many of the 3.5 million items not in the British Museum's public database were looted from Africa in the course of British military actions launched against African nations.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: It is not possible to answer the Noble Lord’s question without unpacking the loaded terms contained within it. The British Museum, like so many other institutions, seeks to provide detailed contextual information about all the items in its collection, so that scholars, visitors, and members of the public from around the world can engage with them and form their own views about them. Examples of ways in which the Museum does that can be found on the sections of its website which deal with:items taken during the punitive raid on Benin City in February 1897: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/benin-bronzes; anditems taken during the military expedition of 1867 to free British hostages and punish Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/maqdala-collectionThe British Museum’s African collections as a whole are well-catalogued, and the Museum has undertaken extensive documentation and history work, including on the collections highlighted above. The British Museum continues actively to research its collections, and its records are updated regularly with references to military looting where evidence is found.

British Museum: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to have discussions with senior staff at the British Museum about returning the Mold Gold Cape to Wales.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The British Museum operates independently of His Majesty's Government, and decisions relating to the care and management of its collections are a matter for the Museum’s trustees.The British Museum, as well as some other national museums, is prevented by law from removing objects from its collections, with a limited number of exceptions, none of which apply in this case. The Government has no plan to change the law.As the former Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, recounts in his A History of the World in 100 Objects (2010), it is thanks to the work of the British Museum over more than a century that so many fragments of the Mold Gold Cape have been reunited, following their dispersal shortly after it was discovered at Bryn-yr-Ellyllon in 1833.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current status of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty's Government what future plans there are for the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

Viscount Camrose: The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) Advisory Board was appointed on a fixed term basis, with terms ending in September 2023. As CDEI’s work evolves to keep pace with developments in data and AI, the CDEI will engage with a broader pool of expertise from across the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). CDEI will continue its work to enable trustworthy innovation using data and AI as part of DSIT, including developing tools, guidance and standards to help public and private sector organisations to use AI and data in a way that builds public trust.